INTERACTION OF ERYTHROBIC ACID WITH ASCORBIC-ACID CATABOLISM

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 46  (1) , 40-47
Abstract
After a vitamin C depletion period of 12 days, supplementing erythorbic acid (50 mg/day per kg body wt) over 16 days significantly accelerated the catabolism of a newly ingested tracer dose of (1-14C) ascorbic acid in guinea pigs in comparison to animals supplemented with ascorbic acid (5 mg/day per body wt), but this effect of erythorbic acid could not be normalized by additional supplementation with ascorbic acid. Half-lives for (1-14C) ascorbic acid (50% of the dose excreted) were drastically reduced from 97 h to 50 h and 59 h, respectively. Figures on the retention of radioactivity showed reduced availability of ascorbic acid. This is in accordance with the significant reduction in size of ascorbic acid body pool, and in weight gain in the groups receiving erythorbic acid, or erythorbic and ascorbic acids. The bioavailability was calculated to be strongly depressed to nearly 50% of the total ingested biologically active material (ascorbic plus erythorbic acids), assuming erythorbic acid to have only 1/20 of the biological activity of ascorbic acid.

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